Most Australians, and Indonesian, would say: The Aussie boy should be reunited with his family back home now.

And so should the 50 Indonesian children sleeping in adult jails in Australia.
Ross B Taylor,
Australians don't seem to be able to see fairness when it concerns anyone else.

Dream on,
that caning is horrific but not nearly as bad as the damage done by drugs to all of us. One thing is for sure that if robbers & criminal public servants were to receive similar our economy would be in much better shape. For those who believe this is too harsh let them deal with the hoodlums pay compensation & back the Malaysia solution.

Pushing for greater transparency is really about improving the democratic process.

It is examples like that of Daniel Ellsberg who fought for democracy by revealing the duplicity of four governments in using and facilitating the Vietnam War for the purposes of domestic politics. In no sphere, including international, should governments be acting separately from their charter. There is interest in this area as organisations like Wikileaks and Open Australia Foundation and FOI groups growing in the UK, reveal.

FOI is not a luxury but a right and public service and government culture still buries itself in a culture of secrecy. It is easy to do I have been there myself and understand the feeling of being part of a team working to a common goal. But sometimes those in power and those who work alongside need to step back and ask who it is 'we' are working for and why.

There is no 'mission' of government I can think of that would override it's greater charter to represent the people's best interests. Secrecy does not achieve that purpose. The truth really does set you free.

There is no government activity that would need to be privy to a small elite especially if that elite is working complicitly with other interests over the rights of ordinary people.

Greater transparency through access to information is one way of improving the democratic process. The idea that citizens are privileged to be 'allowed' access to information that rightly belongs to them is an anathema to this process.

It is about what could be rather than what 'is' and how to go about improving and changing the cultural mindset.